The Greatest College Football Players of All-Time

6. Charles Woodson, CB, Michigan (1995-97)

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Charles Woodson became Michigan’s third player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1997. All he had to do was beat out Tennessee’s star quarterback. You might have heard of him, his name is Peyton Manning. Apparently this Manning guy was kind of a big deal. Anyway, Woodson remains the only true defensive player to win the award, but he also returned punts and played some receiver during the Wolverines’ 12-0 season, which resulted in a share of the national championship. He had a knack for making big plays, and that also helped him gain favor in the Heisman voting his junior year.

Few players in college football history have been able to impact all three facets of the game (offense, defense, and special teams) Woodson was a total game-changer at all three of them.

Unstoppable. Teams knew Wisconsin would run it, and they still couldn’t stop him. 5.8 yards per carry for his career. Dayne crushed opposing defenses, playing on Wisconsin teams stocked with little talent. Wisco never had better than the 5th best recruiting class in the Big Ten.

Three HUGE omissions from this list: Apparently the writer of this piece never checked the Statistics: What was Kellen Moore’s passing percentage when Boise State was behind by more than a touchdown? (Not surprised you don’t know the answer. It was a trick question. During his 4 years as a starter at Boise State his team was never behind by more than a touchdown.) He is college footballs All-Time winning-est Quarterback posting a 50-3 record including 1 undefeated season and 3 one-loss seasons. 143 TD’s 28 Ints. Only his Freshmen year did he pass for less than 3500 yards (3486). And his lowest Quarterback rating was also his freshmen year’s 157.1 rating. His high mark was 2010 when he threw for 3845 yards with a 182.6 rating.

Danny Woodhead – Overlooked because he played Division II. But consider his stats: Woodhead accumulated 7,441 yards on the ground, for his career, giving him a career average of 190.8 yards per game. He rushed for more than 200 yards in 19 of his 39 appearances and scored in 37 consecutive games, both of which are NCAA all-division records.

Cooper Kupp – Overlooked because he was not a Big Conference player. However his stats are ridiculous. He is College footballs all division all time receiving yards leader. The previous record holder was Jerry Rice with 4693 receiving yards. Kupp destroyed that mark with 6464 receiving yards. He also bested the previous all time touchdowns mark of 58, by catching 73 touchdown passes.

Manning was methodical in his passing and always steady, but he did not show up big in big games like Tebow or especially like Woodson, which is why he lost the Heisman to Woodson. Manning never beat his rival and Woodson did his best work against his rivals and elevated his game as the stage got bigger.

Is # 17 missing because the person typing the list was shocked to see Brain Bosworth coming up right after Randy Moss at 18, so they skipped 17? Charles Woodson was a great player no doubt, but not more of an impact than Deion Sanders, and it’s really not that close. I would take Neon Deion any day over Woodson. Lawrence Taylor was a pretty dominant defender at UNC, I would have a tough time leaving Marcus Allen or Eddie George off of this list, and I’ve never seen anybody as electric as Raghib Ismail or Anthony Carter to name a couple more that should have been on here in place of several.

“OJ’s despicable actions off the field”?? He was found not guilty of the murders, and the other crime was B.S. caused by the civil case he lost over the criminal case he was found not guilty of. Maybe he did kill those 2, but they failed to convict him for it, so he’s not guilty. If they’re going to play the game & jail those who are innocent due to circumstance & evidence, then stand by it & live with it when they don’t get someone.